The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Bk. 3 Pt. 2 eBook

troops were there, two of Ravana’s counsellors
and officers, named Suka and Sarana, who had come
as spies, having assumed the shape of monkeys, were
seized by Vibhishana. And when those wanderers
of the night assumed their real Rakshasa forms, Rama
showed them his troop and dismissed them quietly.
And having quartered his troops in those woods that
skirted the city, Rama then sent the monkey Angada
with great wisdom as his envoy to Ravana.’”

SECTION CCLXXXII

“Markandeya said, ’Having quartered his
army in those groves abounding with food and water
and with fruits and roots, the descendant of Kakutstha
began to watch over them with care. Ravana, on
the other hand, planted in his city many appliances
constructed according to the rules of military science.
And his city, naturally impregnable on account of
its strong ramparts and gate-ways, had seven trenches,
that were deep and full of water to the brim and that
abounded with fishes and sharks and alligators, made
more impregnable still by means of pointed stakes
of Khadira wood. And the ramparts, heaped
with stones, were made impregnable by means of catapults.
And the warriors (who guarded the walls) were armed
with earthen pots filled with venomous snakes, and
with resinous powders of many kinds. And they
were also armed with clubs, and fire-brands and arrows
and lances and swords and battle-axes. And they
had also Sataghnis[57] and stout maces steeped
in wax.[58] And at all the gates of the city were
planted movable and immovable encampments manned by
large numbers of infantry supported by countless elephants
and horses. And Angada, having reached one of
the gates of the city, was made known to the Rakshasas.
And he entered the town without suspicion or fear.
And surrounded by countless Rakshasas, that hero in
his beauty looked like the Sun himself in the midst
of masses of clouds. And having approached the
hero of Pulastya’s race in the midst of his
counsellors, the eloquent Angada saluted the king and
began to deliver Rama’s message in these words,
“That descendant of Raghu, O king, who ruleth
at Kosala and whose renown hath spread over the whole
world, sayeth unto thee these words suited to the
occasion. Accept thou that message and act according
to it! Provinces and towns, in consequence of
their connection with sinful kings incapable of controlling
their souls, are themselves polluted and destroyed.
By the violent abduction of Sita, thou alone hast
injured me! Thou, however, wilt become the cause
of death to many unoffending persons. Possessed
of power and filled with pride, thou hast, before
this, slain many Rishis living in the woods,
and insulted the very gods. Thou hast slain also
many great kings and many weeping women. For
those transgressions of thine, retribution is about
to overtake thee! I will slay thee with thy counsellors.
Fight and show thy courage![59] O wanderer of the